"If you want zucchini," says Garrison Keillor, in his drawling reminiscence of Lake Wobegon, the quintessential Midwest town too real to be real, "just go to church on Sunday. You'll have all you can handle." People in garden-minded towns should lock their car doors this time of year, or else they may find a large, moist sack of green monsters on their back seat. Do you have a sack of zucchini sitting on the front seat of your car, or on your kitchen counter? Want some fresh ideas?

Maybe you've made zucchini bread, but you're stumped on what to do with the rest of it. What about baking it stuffed with olives, tomatoes, and mozzarella? Or making a French-style savory breakfast cake? What about a hearty chickpea salad with shredded zucchini, mint, and feta? There's zucchini "butter," and a spread with zucchini and yogurt. There's so much zucchini here, you'll feel just fine leaving your doors unlocked in the church parking lot. Zucchini? Bring it on!

Want more from Garrison Keillor on the summer rhythms of small-town life? Check out this episode from 2008: